When President Bush signed the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act of 2007, he added his own interpretation of the law in a Presidential signing statement. As you may have heard, this signing statement effectively declares that the President and his agents have the right to open first class mail without a warrant.  According to ACLU Washington's Public Education Director, Doug Honig, this statement represents "another attempt by this administration to undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights," by asserting powers not granted him by the Congress or the Constitution.  Here in Tacoma, two postal workers decided to do something about it. Mark Nelson, letter carrier and co-director of Postal Workers United Against Tyranny, had this to say: "Nowadays it seems like the last public servant people can trust is the mailman. Now that people think we're gonna {sic} be prying around in their private lives, what's gonna {sic} happen to that trust? Our mail is sacred, or at least you want it to be."

On February 14th of this year, the Pierce County Central Labor Council passed a resolution in support of postal workers in this effort.  Todd Iverson, Tacoma longshoreman and President of the grassroots working families' advocacy group, America in Solidarity, was at that meeting.  Here's what he had to say on the subject: "We're getting closer to Orwellian levels of government… I'm not so paranoid to think that they're going to spy on everyone, but I think what they're doing is threatening our liberty."

An official press release on the USPS website asserts that the President has no new powers to open mail without a warrant.  Some of the Postal Service's customers, however, aren't so sure. Says Marilyn Kimmerling, longtime peace activist and member of the liberal women's singing group, Raging Grannies, "He's making it up as he goes along! I don't think that's the right of the President, to make up laws as he goes along. He doesn't veto laws that Congress brings to him, and then in the fine print he reserves the right to do as he pleases. He makes the whole Congress meaningless."

On March 1st, the Tacoma branch of the letter carriers union passed an historic resolution, opposing the President's use of a signing statement to justify opening mail without a warrant, and calling on all union officers to meet with their elected representatives to encourage them to "stand with us to protect the sanctity of the mail."  The debate was intense, but in the end this resolution passed two-to-one.  It will be delivered to the State Convention in May, and from there it could also go all the way to National.

Mark Nelson hopes that the resolution passed by the Labor Council makes an impact.  He’s excited about organizing his fellow workers, and hopeful that concerned customers will get involved as well. To them, he has this to say:  "Contact your elected representatives. Voice your concerns. We don't know what these people are gonna {sic} be doing unless we can make the Congress step up and do their job: a little oversight!"

Jeff Richardson is the founder and co-director of Postal Workers United Against Tyranny and a Tacoma letter carrier. He's written extensively about this issue at their blog: www.postalworkersunited.blogspot.com .

Jeff is also the Education Director for America in Solidarity and a delegate to the Labor Council from his union, NALC Branch 130.